The show revolves around the life of Italian-American Ray Barone, a sportswriter from Long Island, and his wife, Debra Barone. Other main characters include Ray's parents, Frank and Marie, Ray's children Ally, Michael and Geoffrey and Ray's brother Robert, with his wife Amy.

Raymond Albert "Ray" Barone (Ray Romano) is the protagonist of the sitcom. Most of the series’ storylines revolve around him, hence the title of the show. He lives on Long Island, with his wife Debra and their three children Ally and twin boys, Michael and Geoffrey Barone. He attended St. Johns University (New York) in Queens, New York. Ray is well-known through the community due to his profession as a writer for a sports column. In some episodes, he is seen reviewing a famous sportsperson. However, this is shown to have subsided in the later seasons. Due to the nature of his work, Ray is often seen on the couch, watching sports, rather than assisting Debra with household duties and the children.

At times Raymond appears rather introverted. He often rants in a nasal, whiny voice. His fears include not being liked by everyone and confronting his parents, particularly his mother. He often gets annoyed because he feels that he and Debra lack intimacy. He is also promoted as chief sports writer.

Parts of the backstory of his childhood have explained Raymond’s attitude and personality as an adult. Raymond and Robert were spoiled by their mother. However, their father, who worked long hours, have been neglectful in showing them affection and instead showed abuse. Ray has sometimes shown this pattern of behavior in his reluctance to participate with his own children.

Running gag in the show is how much Ray was mothered and spoiled by his mother, while Robert was neglected. Raymond was pampered, constantly taken care of and was being taking cared of 24/7 by Marie, which, in turn, made him lazy and causing him to act like a child, and very often, to defend himself to Debra, he goes to Marie for advice and protection. He is also very scared of her and often sides with her instead of Debra.

In 2004, TV Guide ranked Ray Barone number 10 on its '50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time' list.[1]

Debra Louise Whelan-Barone (Patricia Heaton), is the wife of Ray. She was raised by wealthy parents, Lois (Katherine Helmond) and Warren Whelan (Robert Culp), and grew up in an upper-class background, unlike the other major characters in the sitcom. She has a sister, Jennifer Whelan (Ashley Crow), who is seen only once in the entire series. Following her graduation from high school, she traveled a lot and dated many famous sportspeople. Before marrying Ray, she worked in public relations for the New York Rangers hockey team.

Debra is emotional and very sensitive. She is stressed out as a housewife, having to put up not only with Ray’s corny jokes and seemingly unhelpful attitude, but more with his obnoxious, family members, who often barge in uninvited, leaving emotional havoc in their wake. Though Ray's parents frustrate her, she rarely shows her feelings to them, resulting in occasional bursts in private of yelling, stomping, and throwing objects.

Debra is frequently at odds with Marie, who shows a large amount of distaste of her ability to be a mother and a wife. Throughout the series, Debra often finds Robert the most understanding of the Barones, and at times she is shown to get along well with Frank, who thinks of her as a daughter and understands Debra's attitude toward his wife.

She is also unhappy about her parents when they were in an argument, and she was emotionally devastated when they were divorcing. Even though she grew in a traditional conservative family, she was a wild and a popular teen in her early years. Ray once noted that, during college, she went to Mardi Gras and flashed her breasts to many people who gave her beads and also ended up topless in the newspaper.

The character has also appeared in the King of Queens episode "Dire Strayts".

Marie Janella Barone (Doris Roberts) is the wife of Frank, and matriarch of the Barone family. As a housewife, she excels in household duties, including cooking, cleaning, and generally keeping and maintaining a good household. Marie is a textbook case of narcissistic personality disorder, and her treatment of people due to this becomes a focal point of several episodes of the show. She is very nosy, snobbish, arrogant, insulting, and has a strong hold over her family due to her penchant for narcissistic abuse, bullying those around her with guilt and a victim complex to get her way. She has very high self-esteem and believes herself as a positive example of what every wife, mother and woman should be. She takes special pride in her Italian background and even arranges a tour of Italy for the whole family out of her own savings.

Throughout the series, she is shown to have favorites with certain people, with her son Raymond being the first and Debra being possibly the last. Other than Frank, everyone has a hard time standing up to Marie due to her habit of making people feel guilty, although Debra does finally take a stand. She is well aware of Raymond’s reluctance to stand up to her, and in many situations takes advantage of this to achieve her own interests.

It is established in the flashbacks of "How They Met" that she has never liked Debra ever since Debra asked Ray to fix her futon at dinner time, but Marie has never admitted her dislike of Debra outright and is careful about not saying it out loud, but she never ceases the chance to annoy her or indirectly insult her on many occasions just for her own pleasure.

She has saved a little money on the side every day and admitted to Debra that she collected over $46.000 since her wedding. She also sends money to South America to a fundraiser. She is also shown to actually control the family's finances in front of Frank's nose, who always thought he was the one in charge and remained oblivious to much of her savings or expenses.

As her boys were growing up, she smothered her younger son while completely cutting Robert out of the picture. However, in a later episode, she claims that this was because Robert was able to take care of himself and was independent, in contrast to Ray who was a soft, weak, needy little boy (this was likely said just to manipulate Robert into getting Amy pregnant, as both he and Raymond note and Marie herself winks to Ray, indicating this is another manipulation). In some cases, however, she is shown to care and be overprotective of Robert as well. This includes when he had nightmares growing up, when he was gored by a bull, when he was interviewing for an FBI position, and her frequent attempts to get Robert out of the police force in effort to keep him safe.

Marie is also seen constantly arguing with her husband Frank in nearly every episode, with them constantly bickering and annoying each other. However, in some situations, there have been times when they do evidence their love for one another, despite their reluctance to be open with it. Much to Debra's annoyance, even Debra's parents find them more interesting, since they are honest to each other and open.

Francis Oscar "Frank" Barone (Peter Boyle) Is the husband of Marie, and a retired bookkeeper. In the episode "The Gift" (season 2), it is Frank's 65th birthday, making his year of birth 1932. He can be seen as stubborn, hungry, outspoken, and rigidly masculine. Although it is briefly mentioned that he has a soft side, Frank refuses to accept it. In episodes like "Pet the Bunny", "Christmas Present", and a little in "Fathers Knows Least" and "Frank Goes Downstairs", he indicates that, though capable of kindness and sensitivity, he deliberately cultivates a tough guy image. However, Frank is sometimes shown to be a good family man, such as taking the fall for Debra when Marie's prized canister goes missing or even trying to console Robert after he becomes despondent from a breakup.

He is always seen at Ray and Debra’s house on the black armchair with his pants unbuttoned and zipper open watching sports or at home ordering Marie to prepare his meals while sitting and reading the paper. During his sons’ childhood, Frank was virtually absent and had refused to show any sign of affection and love to either boy. He was constantly at odds with his wife Marie to how the boys were to be raised. He is very opinionated, outspoken, and has no problem insulting family members and strangers out in the open (this applies in particular to his wife, Marie). He calls men names like "Nancy", "Shirley", "Peaches", and "Mary" who do not live up to his standards to what it takes to be a man. His main catchphrase on the show is "Holy crap".

Throughout the sitcom, Frank is shown to have socially conservative values, particularly regarding minority groups such as gays and lesbians, and ethnic groups such as the Koreans and Japanese to which he occasionally mutters “Japanese crap”. He doesn’t follow or accept anything outside the social norms, to which Marie proclaims “Frank lives in blissful ignorance”. Despite Marie’s constant self-regard, she is accepting of these minority groups. Much to other characters' dismay, he's not above engaging in illegal or dubious activities such as gambling or stealing cable from Ray.

In his spare time, Frank is a skilled handyman and a history buff, with a particular interest in the American Civil War. He's frequently seen making repairs in Ray and Debra's house, and in "Frank Goes Downstairs" is injured while fixing their staircase. His regular get-away activity is having naked pool bath with his elderly friends at a community center referred to as "the lodge". On every other Saturday, he takes Raymond's children to The Happy Zone.

Frank is also a war veteran. He fought in the Korean War and he uses this as a reference for recounting stories of survival and how he came to be a “man”. In one particular incident, where all three Barone men were pretending to go to counseling sessions it was revealed that Ray and Robert had a long line of physically disciplinarian grandparents. However, Frank vowed to never be physically abusive towards his sons, never enforcing corporal punishment on them and never engaging in nothing more than yelling at them.

Though for the most part largely lackadaisical and nonchalant in his relationships with others, he is often depicted as the only member of the family who is not only unafraid of Marie, but the only one who will put his foot down and stand up to her, much to the combined relief and horror of the other characters. Many of their arguments revolve around trivial and even irrational subjects, such as who invented the lawn and literally comparing apples and oranges.

They also come into conflict over Debra, whom Frank, unlike Marie, overwhelmingly approves of, and even tends to be more affectionate with than he is with either of his sons. True to his blunt personality, in one episode in which the entire family (the adults) were at a counseling session with their church priest Father Hubley, he yelled out in front of everyone that the main reason why Marie looks down on Debra – "She (Debra) married him (Raymond), and she (Marie) never got over it."

Robert Charles Barone (Brad Garrett) is Raymond's older brother (4 years older than Ray, yet in reality, Ray Romano is 3 years older than Garrett) and the first-born son of Frank and Marie. His birthday is April 6 and his birth weight was 12 pounds (5443 g). Standing at 6' 8½" (204 cm), he is the tallest Barone, and has several quirks, the biggest being a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, commonly known as the "Crazy Chin", which he developed to cope with stress which started when Raymond was born and all of Marie's attention turned to Raymond. Robert is a caring uncle and still deeply cares for little brother Raymond. Robert has been a police officer with the N.Y.P.D for 27 years, eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant and then, by the end of the series, Lieutenant. His height, appearance and demeanor are the source of much humor, but despite his huge size, Robert is a very skilled dancer.

After divorcing his first wife Joanne in 1995, Robert moved back in with his parents, became a workaholic, and was acknowledged by the NYPD for never being absent one day of his career for three years straight. Robert's diverse skills as a police officer even got him an interview with the FBI, but his mother intentionally interfered in the interview process. Robert was passed over but simply because the other candidates were more qualified. He was injured on the job when he was gored in the bottom by a bull. When he returned, he left the police force out of fear, and became a telemarketer. Later, he took a side job as an alarm salesman for a brief time (one episode) but returned to the NYPD, mainly with Raymond's help.

Robert dated Debra's best friend Amy MacDougall for several years, despite a number of breakups. After a bad date with yet another woman, Robert ran into Amy in a bar and they soon got back together and married in 2003. In 2004, they purchased Frank and Marie's home for $26,000, but they had to welcome them back in when the elder Barones were kicked out of a retirement community in New Jersey in the episode "Not So Fast."

Robert is very jealous of his brother Raymond, who was favored by their mother, and though Robert is four years older than Ray and much taller, he constantly feels as if he's stuck in Ray's shadow. Despite the obvious favoring of Ray, Marie has claimed that there was never any favoritism. He has a very cruel sense of humor and will make fun of Raymond to no end to get a little belated revenge. He is also known for being very passive-aggressive.

While not averse to picking on Ray himself, Robert does seem, however, to be protective of his younger brother; in one episode, he overhears a radio sports show host insulting Ray at length and angrily humiliates the man in retaliation. He also respects Ray as a well-intentioned, if generally absent, father, in the pattern of Frank. Robert serves as the moral conscience in the family, as the most virtuous of the characters, and often pleads with others when they are considering doing something questionable.

Robert's catchphrase in the show is when he finds the family gathered together silent and says: "Is this about me?"

Amy Louise MacDougall (Monica Horan) is Robert's on-and-off girlfriend, and eventual wife. They met because Amy is Debra's best friend. She and Debra share the same middle name. Although Amy marries Robert in Season 7, Episode 24: "Robert's Wedding", she also appears in the previous seasons. Many issues have caused Amy and Robert to break up in the first six seasons, with one being caused by Raymond and another being that Robert had sex with another woman. Quite often, Amy apologizes to someone even if she didn't do anything wrong.

She is a bubbly girl who was raised in a family of devout Protestants, who live in Pennsylvania. She describes her parents as "people who wouldn't yell if they were on fire." Amy was a virgin when she met Robert, which Ray had a hard time believing, as Amy was 33 at the time. She eventually lost her virginity to Robert before they were married, but they were spotted having sex by their neighbors, causing Robert's neighbors to sign a sheet mandating bedroom curtains in the apartment building.

Barone children

Alexandra "Ally" Barone (154 episodes; played by Madylin Sweeten) – Ray and Debra's only daughter. She is six years old at the beginning of the series, and is fourteen by the series finale. She was named for Romano's real-life daughter. In the beginning, she is somewhat mischievous and naughty much like her brothers, but becomes loyal and helpful by the end. However, she still occasionally fibs and answers back to her parents if she doesn't get what she wants, such as a $250 silk dress which would only be worn once.

Geoffrey and Michael Barone (130 episodes; played by Sullivan and Sawyer Sweeten) – Ray and Debra's identical twin sons. They are two years old at the beginning of the series and are ten years old by the series finale. A running joke is Frank's insistence that Geoffrey may have homosexual tendencies, such as when he walks in on the two boys rehearsing to play fairies in a school production. The two are stereotypically playful, energetic, and prone to causing chaos even without trying but in general are well-behaved. (In the pilot episode, they were played by a different set of twins plus a set of triplets and were called "Gregory" and "Matthew" after Romano's real-life twin sons.)

Recurring

Hank and Pat MacDougall (13 episodes; played by Fred Willard and Georgia Engel) are Amy's parents. They first appear in "Just a Formality" (episode 7.14). Devout conservative Presbyterians, they oppose their daughter's marriage because of Robert's previous marital status and Catholic faith. These matters are not helped as they soon learn that the MacDougalls and the Barones are not the most compatible of families; the two sides still do not like each other after many tries at truce, although the Barones have always loved Amy, and the MacDougalls come to accept Robert.

Hank is a former professor and is now a high school principal. He is known to be opposed to smoking, and his line when he sees someone smoking is "Why don't you just drink poison?". Pat is a housewife, and has a high-pitched, quiet voice. She is shown to be fragile and caring mother.

Peter MacDougall (10 episodes; played by Chris Elliott) is Amy's older brother. He has a strange, psychologically unstable personality (Robert once stated that "There are squirrels juggling knives in his head") and a sneaky, clever mind. Opposed to his sister's marriage, he insists that he will keep trying to break it up, which explains the reason why during Robert's wedding that Robert and Ray looked at him when the pastor asked if anyone objected to Robert and Amy's marriage. Peter is single but lives with his pet house cat, Miss Puss. At first, Peter and Robert do not get along very well, but in "Peter on the Couch," the two find common ground in the fact that they both suffered from being the overshadowed older sibling and living with their parents. He is also fond of Ray, although the feeling isn't mutual. Peter was originally introduced as "Russell", the owner of a comic book shop (played by comedian Paul Reubens) in a one-time appearance. Russell abruptly became Peter because in "Just a Formality" (episode 7.14), Peter mentions meeting Ray at the comic book store (which was Russell).

Lois and Warren Whelan (14 and 11 episodes, played by Katherine Helmond and Robert Culp) are Debra's parents. Even though they are strict conservative family, they are shown to have a breakdown and actually dislike their marriage and hobbies. They are from Connecticut. They are also upper-class, and have different beliefs from the middle-class Barones. However, Whelans have a huge amount of respect towards them for their honesty and start to imitate them, annoying Debra.

Lois is a housewife, and traveled around on fundraisers. Her line of work was not mentioned. She is sweet and gentle, but easily insulted. She also appears to be nervous around Robert, who feels the same way. She has a struggling relationship with Warren, and even though she suggested and went to counseling in New Jersey, he eventually files in for a divorce, which she accepts, since she cannot find love in her marriage anymore.

Warren is a businessman, achieving success at a young age, and a loving, optimistic father. He is very found of antiques, and, in a running joke on the show, is often referred to as having a problem with alcohol. He had problems with Lois about their marriage. They agreed to go on counseling in New Jersey, but they eventually divorced. Debra was devastated and was angry at Lois because she thought that she filed it, but Warren tells her the truth.

Andy (26 episodes; played by Andy Kindler) – A fellow sportswriter and friend of Raymond's, and a bachelor. He is known to have bad luck with women.

Gianni (25 episodes; played by Jon Manfrellotti) – A contractor, ex-futon repairman, and friend of Raymond's. He briefly dated Amy, much to Robert's consternation, and is disliked by Debra as immature. He worked with Ray when they were younger. He also appeared on The King of Queens. Jon Manfrellotti first appeared as a cable guy from Lynbrook cable in "The Game" (episode 1.17).

Bernie and Linda Gruenfelder (17 and 11 episodes; played by Tom McGowan and Maggie Wheeler) – Married couple, friends of Ray and Debra. They are very fond of each other and express their love in public.

Garvin (9 episodes; played by Len Lesser) – A friend of Frank's. A running gag is that when he sees Raymond, he shouts, "Hey, Ray's here! Ha-ha-ha!" while shaking his arms in the air. Lesser used a similar gag on Seinfeld when he portrayed Uncle Leo, enthusiastically saying "Jerry! Hello!" while holding out his arms every time he greeted his nephew Jerry.

Minor

Nemo (7 episodes; played by Joseph V. Perry, Robert Ruth) – Pizza restaurant owner. Disappears when Marco takes over his pizzeria and calls it Marco's.

Gerard (7 episodes; played by Fred Stoller) – Ray and Robert's annoying, unintelligent and hypochondriacal cousin who makes several appearances. He plays the accordion.

Father Hubley (6 episodes; played by Charles Durning) – The local parish priest. He loves Marie's lasagna. Very wary of the Barones, his long-time parishioners, but usually has helpful advice to offer.

Stefania Fogagnolo (6 episodes; played by Alex Meneses) – Robert's hot and jilted Italian ex-girlfriend he met while vacationing with the Barone clan in Italy. He had a fling with her in Italy while he was still with Amy, which later causes breakups with both girlfriends.

Marco Fogagnolo (6 episodes; played by David Proval) – The intimidating and threatening Italian father of Stefania, who takes over Nemo's Pizza after the family moves to America, jokingly implying that he "did away with" Nemo. Although he dislikes Robert, he befriends Frank and Marie but the two end up fighting for his friendship.

Molly Ardolino (6 episodes; played by Ray Romano's actual daughter, Alexandra Romano) – Daughter of Peggy Ardolino (Ray's archenemy and Debra's friend) and Ally's best friend. However, she was first seen as a flower girl in a flashback of Ray and Debra's wedding.

Angelina (4 episodes; played by Tina Arning) – a very attractive waitress from Nemo's. Ray often goes to the restaurant just to fantasize about her beauty. She appears in four episodes.

Uncle Mel Barone (4 episodes; played by Phil Leeds) – Frank's older brother. Mel is mean and always seems agitated. A running gag is since he was never married, and sometimes shows up at family events with other men, he mentions at least once in every episode he is in fact, not gay.

Bill Parker (3 episodes; played by David Hunt) – Ray's nemesis neighbor. Parker is often seen showing-up Ray as a father, and Ray often makes jokes that Debra wishes she had married him instead, (the in-joke being that he is played by Patricia Heaton's real-life husband). Ray's character has said lines that has him thinking out loud that his kids are possibly Bill Parker's doing, because all the kids playing his children on the show are blond, like Bill Parker.

Albert (3 episodes; played by Ray Romano's real-life father, Albert Romano) – A lodge friend of Frank, seen in various lodge-related episodes.

Lee (3 episodes; played by Debra Mooney) – Friend of Marie and Frank's

Dave (2 episodes; played by Dave Attell) – A friend of Raymond and a member of the Nemo's sponsored basketball team in "Captain Nemo" (episode 1.11).

Joanne Glotz (2 episodes; played by Suzie Plakson) – Robert's first wife, who is depicted very negatively. She and Robert divorced before the beginning of the series. She formerly worked as a stripper in Atlantic City named Cinnamon. Marie knew about her former job since she appeared on the show, but kept quiet for Robert's sake until Joanne asked for a divorce.

Bryan Trenberth (2 episodes; played by Dan Castellaneta) – The T-ball "healthy snacks" overseer that Debra tangled with and Ray finally blew up on in "T-Ball" (episode 2.42). He was also Coach Bryan in "It's Supposed To Be Fun" (episode 6.8).

Abe Warchiser aka "Bullethead" (John David Conti) – Frank's worst enemy at his lodge, seen in various lodge-related episodes. He proved he hated Frank in the episode "Franks Tribute" by telling Robert and Raymond "I don't like Frank Barone!"

Peggy Ardolino (Amy Aquino) – Single mother of Ally's best friend who has bullied Ray and later becomes Peter's girlfriend. Referred to as "The Cookie Lady" and "Peggy Hitler" by Ray. Whenever they see each other, Peggy says, "Hello, Ally's dad," while he just says "Hello... Peggy," in a very intimidating way. Debra ending up scaring Peggy off so she would leave Ray alone saying, "Nobody beats up my husband." Her characteristics are similar to Hitler, according to Ray.

Shamsky II – the bulldog Robert gets in Season 1, Episode 19: "The Dog" after having him neutered and later finding out he was a pure bred used for breeding stock. Shamsky II, named for Robert's favourite baseball player Art Shamsky, makes brief cameos in other episodes.